White people, where do you rank?

Think about it.

A Facebook friend of mine posted this on her page, and of course, the white people flocked there to say just where they would rank themselves.

So my question to white people following this page, how would you rank yourself? Give yourself a minute to think about it. Then read on.

These action-oriented white identities were created by Barnor Hesse, Associate Professor of African American Studies, Political Science, and Sociology at Northwestern University.

If you missed the paragraph at the top of the list, then you overlooked the entire reason why he created this list. Professor Hesse created this for black and brown people to use as a resource to categorize those people who claim to be our allies.

So if you ranked yourself, you failed miserably. White people have no business ranking their own allyship. What ever title you get is given to you by the marginalized group you claim to be supporting. If you ranked yourself as anything other than a plain-old white supremacist, you also failed. It should be obvious to you that any self-assigned ranking means you are giving yourself accolades for climbing the mythical ladder of white supremacy.

And it is mythical.

White people, you must realize becoming an ally/accomplice means you are navigating a winding road on which, oftentimes, you have no idea what’s around the corner. You’re climbing an endless mountain where at any time your footing may slip and you tumble right back down to beginning allyship. That’s what it is.

That’s what it will always be.

You will learn about allyship your entire life. You will never graduate. You will never know everything. You will never become an expert.

If that’s what you’re striving for, stop now. Your allyship isn’t rooted in activism. It’s rooted in titles, performance and praise.

In other words, your allyship is harmful, and we want no part of it.

Follow me on Twitter: @LeciaMichelle